There is a saying: write about what you know. In the case of actor and comedian Sophie Craig, the event of the last few years have provided an abundance of material – an emotional rollercoaster for herself and her family… Directed by Toby Clarke, I Love You, Now What? is a semi-fictionalised account of what it was like for her father who had brain cancer and her own emotional journey – doing her damnedest to be positive and proactive, but finding it hard to face her conflicted emotions, especially with ‘acceptance’.

As ‘Ava’, Craig’s burgeoning relationship with Theo (Andy Umerah) at the start of the play proves to be a lifeline of sorts – a ‘distraction’, as well as source of positivity in her life. But as her father (Ian Puleston-Davies) starts asserting his own will and hints that his ‘situation’ isn’t something she ‘can’ or should ‘try to’ fix, her emotional footing falters, as anger, denial and a myriad of other emotions deny her ‘equilibrium’.

As well as playing Ava’s gifted musician father, Puleston-Davies also plays a therapist/grief counsellor who Ava is resistant to initially. While both are very different roles, Puleston-Davies often has the most poignant scenes in the show and one way or another, challenges what Ava ‘knows for certain’.

Also worthy of note in the show is the ‘customised’ piano that represents everything from a bed to Ava’s father fractured mind to ‘the final parting’…

As you might expect from Craig and Umerah, they have great chemistry – both in terms of their comic timing and as a couple. In terms of their respective characters’ emotional maturity and life experience (or lack of…), this plays a big part in how well they cope over time and why they’re unable to grasp how and why each other feels and behaves the way they do.

A ‘throwaway’ conversation about their respective favourite romantic movies, perhaps, holds the key to their impasse. For Ava, the movie Titanic resonates with her, with Jack saving Rose from life’s icebergs and making the grand sacrificial gesture. By contrast, Theo prefers The Notebook – planning to be long-term supportive presence, but not necessarily prepared to make grand jestures that he knows he can’t deliver…

© Michael Davis 2024

I Love You, Now What? runs at Park Theatre (Park 90) until 24th August.

I Love You, Now What?